Ryuiji

Thousands of miles away, across forests, mountains, deserts, and oceans was a large landmass known as Japan. In it was a kingdom ruled by a firm but fair Shogun. The Shogun governed the surrounding provinces, each of which had a feudal lord, justly and his kingdom thrived.

Walking through the halls of his palace was a young man. One of his best blacksmiths and loyal subject, his name was Ryuiji. But that was not his true name. The name the people of his land referred to him as had been a gift from the Shogun himself. He had given him his new name in commemoration of the new life the young man started in his land almost six years ago. When people saw him they could instantly see he was not from Japan. No, Ryuiji was a Viking. He had travelled to this land all those years ago and had saved them in a time of crisis.

He had arrived as a small, gangly, shy, and awkward boy but he had grown into quite the man. The boy had hit a growth spurt around his 17th birthday and had much gotten taller. Standing at 6'1, he towered over almost everyone he came across and was an imposing presence. With the Shogun's permission the boy had been allowed to train in the combat arts of the samurai. Years of the strict and rigid training had filled the gangly boy out with a toned and lean physique. His once chubby, boyish face was now the defined, stubbled, and hard jawline of a man. His auburn hair had grown over the years and he now wore them in several small braids. He had also changed in more ways than just physical. The young man was now confident, strong, outgoing, and fearless. His green eyes shined with internal strength. He walked tall and with pride at all he had accomplished in his time in Japan.

The young man was dressed in a different apparel than was commonly seen in this land. He wore a green tunic, a dark fur vest, brown legging, and leather boots. It was much like what he wore as a child only bigger, having them specially made to accommodate his growth.

Currently Ryuiji was on his way to see the Shogun. He had been summoned to his throne room for a mission and was wondering what the Shogun was going to ask of him. As he took a left to the final hallway leading into the Shogun's room, he smiled as he saw his friend walking ahead of him.

"Kyoshi," he called out in greeting.

The person in front of him turned around and smiled warmly at him. "Ah. Ryuiji, hello my friend. Have you also been summoned by the Shogun?" he asked inquisitively.

Ryuiji walked up to him and nodded in confirmation. He smiled at his friend before they started walking together. Kyoshi was Ryuiji's best (human) friend. He had met the young man when he first came to the land and together they saved his people. Kyoshi had grown into a fine samurai. Dressed in black and red armor and carrying his swords at his hip, Kyoshi was well on his way to fulfilling his life's desire. Born into a family of great generals Kyoshi was one day going to become the general of the Shogun's army. In doing that he would bring great honor to his family and his ancestors. The two had been trained together in the samurai arts and Kyoshi had helped Ryuji learn how to fight by spending countless hours serving as his sparring partner, teacher, and tutor. Ryuiji could never thank his friend enough for all he had done.

Together the young men entered the throne room and walked up to the Shogun. A few feet away from the Shogun they both lowered themselves and remained on their knees. They looked up to the Shogun and bowed their heads in respect. The Shogun was seated in front of them. At his right was his son and future Shogun, Masaru. At his left was his daughter and princess, Megumi. Standing off to the side was Kyoshi's father and the Shogun's general Daichi.

The Shogun nodded in acknowledgment. He cleared his throat before addressing the two men. *"Kyoshi, Ryuiji,"* he said looking to both of them. *"Thank you for coming,"* he said respectfully.

*"Of course my lord,"* Ryuiji replied.

*"I have a mission for you both of upmost importance,"* the Shogun revealed. *"A group of bandits in the Western province have been terrorizing the villages for weeks. I want you two to eliminate them,"* he told them firmly.

Both boys processed the Shogun's orders in silence. *"What are their crimes exactly?"* Ryuiji asked.

At his expected question, Daichi stepped forward. *"They have pillaged and murdered villagers throughout the province. They have burned crops and to the villages' women,"* Daichi didn't finish the statement.

Ryuiji heard all he needed to. With a nod he made a silent promise to do whatever needed to be done.

*"The last village attacked was Sawaka village. Check the lands around there and find them,"* the Shogun finished. *"Go,"* he ordered.

With that both men got up and turned to leave.

*"Be careful Kyoshi-kun,"* the princess said loud enough for him to hear. Both men paused and turned to look at the princess. She blushed slightly as she looked at Kyoshi. Kyoshi looked into her eyes and gave her a nod. Then he and Ryuiji continued to the door and exited the room.

They stood there for a moment before looking at each other. Ryuiji had a smirk on his face as he looked at his friend. Kyoshi noticed his smirking and it bothered him.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked in annoyance.

"Oh nothing," Ryuiji said holding his smile. "Kyoshi-kuuuuun," he said mockingly while mimicking the princess' voice.

Kyoshi flushed slightly before throwing a punch at his friend. Ryuiji deflected the punch. Kyoshi growled before throwing another. Once again Ryuiji blocked the punch before throwing one of his own. Kyoshi deflected his and soon both men were throwing light attacks in an attempt to get a blow in. After a few moments of neither of them landing a blow they stopped and chuckled at their antics. Then Kyoshi gave Ryuiji a shove before taking off in a dash. Ryuiji smiled before chasing after him.

They ran through the palace together, side by side as they made their way to a courtyard that had a low wall that separated the palace from a sheer vertical drop. The palace was built upon a mountain side and was surrounded by cliffs on all sides save for the front entrance. They sprinted without slowing their pace toward the wall. If you didn't know the men you'd think they were crazy. But they did this quite often.

With a final burst of speed they stepped onto the low wall and leapt off it. They had smiles on their faces as they fell through the air. After a second of falling they passed a hole on the cliffside that led into the cave system that ran through the mountain. They both brought their fingers to their lips and whistled, loud and shrill. A moment later two black blurs shot out of the opening and dived after them.

To Ryuiji's right he could see a black shape out of the corner of his eye. Glancing over, he smiled as he met the eyes of his scaly companion. Toothless, his loyal companion and dragon flashed him a gummy grin and warbled at him.

Toothless had stuck by Ryuiji's side ever since he came to Japan. The Night Fury had grown over the years alongside his human. With an even longer body and increased wingspan, he was nearly untouchable in the air due to his amazing speed. The dragon's shot limit and destructive power had also been increased. After observing the dragons native to this land, Ryuiji discovered that hatchling dragons would strengthen their fire by eating a special kind of grass. Dubbing it 'Stoker grass', Ryuiji began to regularly feed small amounts to Toothless. After eating it regularly over the years, the grass had strengthened Toothless' fire and pushed his shot limit to 15.

Ryuiji had improved his saddle designs for his companion over the years. The smiths of the land had amazing skills and helped him create a saddle that included lever and hand rails. The lever and added mechanisms could be used to lock the tailfin in an open position so Toothless and Ryuiji could separate and allow Toothless some limited flight on his own. Ryuiji could never find the words to express how much he cared for his companion. A sentiment the dragon shared.

To Kyoshi's left, the black shape of his own dragon was seen. He turned his head and smiled at Amakage, his own dragon. Kyoshi and Amakage met shortly after Ryuiji had arrived. The two had bonded quite well over the years and the strength of their relationship rivaled even Ryuiji and his dragon's. The two trusted each other with their lives and worked in almost perfect synch. Kyoshi would have never thought it possible to have obtained such a companion and counted him as one of his blessings. Amakage grunted at his rider in greeting before presenting his back to him.

Toothless did the same for his rider and both men slipped into their respective saddles. With a flick of the tailfin, Ryuiji pulled Toothless out of the dive while Kyoshi pulled back on Amakage's horns to pull up himself. Together, riders and dragons gained altitude as the dragons flapped their wings and got them airborne. Then the riders directed them in the direction of the Western Province. Both men were determined to accomplish the task assigned to them by the Shogun. The bandits had to pay for what they had done.


While flying on their way to the Western province, Ryuiji thought about all he had done to help this land. The Shogun had asked him to stay after the death of the Orochi, the eight headed dragon that had taken control of the dragons of this land and forced them to raid the Shogun's kingdom. The Shogun had tasked Ryuiji with helping his people learn as much about the dragons as they could. And so he did.

After the destruction of their original nest Ryuiji, with the Shogun's permission, was able to get the dragons to move into the cavern systems beneath the mountain of the palace. The caves running beneath the palace were huge and full of hot springs and the dragons loved them. The nest's king was named Raijin, the Storm God. Aptly named due to his sheer power and strength and his special ability. The dragons, when working in tandem, had the ability to create rain by drooling on clouds. Their saliva apparently attracted water and thus they could keep making a cloud bigger and bigger until it burst with rain. This was a very useful ability for the kingdom and the farmers of the land were thriving. He was a kind and benevolent leader who ensured that his flock didn't harm any humans and that the land always remained fertile.

The species of which Amakage and Raijin belonged to were called Mizuchis. After careful study, Ryuiji classified the Mizuchis as Strike class dragons due to their amazing speed, high intelligence, and destructive firepower. Over time he and Kyoshi founded the Benten corps. A squad of dragon riders. To be a Benten was now considered one of the highest honors. The squad consisted of 20 members thus far and were all the children of samurai. Ryuiji didn't particularly like the rule that only samurai could become dragon riders, but it wasn't his place to say how the Shogun ruled his people. Kyoshi was officially the captain while Ryuiji was technically his lieutenant, but really they saw each other as co-captains. Unfortunately not everyone respected Ryuiji due to the fact that he wasn't a samurai but he didn't let it get to him and made sure he made his authority on dragons known.

The Benten helped keep peace among the kingdom by patrolling its borders and acting as a police force in dealing with bandits and other disputes. Additionally they would act as messengers as delivering a message by dragon was much faster than by horseback. Plus they would uses their dragon to assist the villagers with things like farming, hunting, and construction.

Besides the Mizuchis Ryuiji had been delighted to discover that there were three other species of dragons in the land. There were the boulder class Aois. These dragon looked like longer Gronckle's and had thick powerful jaws with a massive lower jaw for crushing rocks and small wings that flapped like a hummingbird for flight. They were a squat species that were very non aggressive. Ryuiji had discovered them in a canyon and they also had a king like the Mizuchis did. The king was named Otojin or Earth God. When Ryuiji meant non aggressive he meant that you could literally walk up to one and stand right in front of it and it would ignore and walk around you before munching on some more rocks.

Then there were the highly aggressive and territorial Karyus. These were Stoker class dragons with long bodies, no hind legs, large wings, and two tails. They were ruled by the fierce and foul tempered Hojin, or Fire God, and kept to themselves in the southern region of Japan on Mount Aso. These bad boys didn't like any other dragons, or humans for that matter, entering their territory. Unless that is you were carrying mint. For whatever reason the Karyus loved the smell and taste of mint and if you gave one some it would absolutely love you.

Lastly there were the Tidal class Mandas. These dragons were long and serpent like with no wings or legs. They had fin like appendages throughout the length of the bodies and a flat tail allowing them to swim like an eel. Ryuiji had once been tasked to help the fishermen of the land stop them from attacking their ships and stealing their catch. The solution had been fairly simple. All you had to do was share some of your catch with them and they would leave you alone. They might even share some of their own catch with you and even lead you to better fishing grounds if you were lucky. Unlike the other species, these were ruled by a queen. A great long dragon with shimmering rainbow scales, Suijin, or Water God absolutely adored compliments. If you told her she was pretty and complimented the beauty of her scales she was putty in your hands and you would gain her favor. That meant her subjects wouldn't touch you and would share their catch with you anytime they saw you.

Ryuiji had written all he had learned in a book of dragons Kyoshi had helped him write. This was all so the people of Japan would better be able to understand the dragons of this land and maintain peace with them. He was proud of what he had learned. He hoped that one day the Benten corps would include the other species as currently they only consisted of Mizuchis.

As the group finally entered the borders of the western province Kyoshi pulled ahead to lead them to Sawaka village. When they got there they met up with the province's samurai who were also tracking the bandits. After some questions the samurai had been informed that the bandits were heading toward the border of the Northern Province to escape. After hearing this Ryuiji and Kyoshi immediately mounted their dragons before heading toward the border separating the Western and Northern provinces.

Within half an hour they could spy the group of bandits ahead. Pulling out a spyglass, Ryuiji attempted to determine how many members there company included.

"Looks like there about fifty of them. I say we take out a little over half of them from the air before engaging in close combat," he called out. Kyoshi gave an affirmative 'hai' in agreement before both riders directed their dragons to gain speed.

It was time for the Black Riders to make their appearance.


The bandits were making their way to the border of the Western and Northern Province. They all had smiles on their faces as they hauled their plunder. Their little group had been terrorizing the villages in this province for week and no one had put a stop to them. They always made sure to stay on the move so they wouldn't be caught and they would cross into other provinces so they couldn't be pursued.

They couldn't believe their luck with all they had been able to pillage from the villagers. Even better is that they no longer had any completion thanks to the Benten. Many bandit groups were afraid of the Benten. The samurai of the Shogun's army commanded dragons and were a scourge to bandits everywhere. But as long as they played it smart even the dragon riders couldn't do anything.

As the bandits made their way over the plains, one of them shouted as they saw the border to the Northern Province in the distance. Sweeping the horizon, they all smiled as they saw they weren't being pursued. They were going to make it. No one was going to stop them. One of them cheered and the rest of the group joined in and they cried out for a celebration later that night.

Then suddenly they went silent as they heard something. It was a faint whistling noise that emanated on the wind and cut through the air like a knife. As they continued to listen the noise got higher and louder. All at once their faces paled and dread set in as they realized what it was.

It was them. The Black Riders had come for their heads.

Suddenly the one the carts carrying their plunder exploded in a flash of blue fire. The force of the explosion sent the men and their horses nearest to it flying off in different direction. Their eyes all suddenly shifted to the sky as they looked for a dragon. Then another cart exploded and sent more of the men flying.

The leader shouted for the remaining men to make a dash on their horses for the border. As the men all urged their horses to start running in the direction of the border a crimson flash shot out of the sky and collided with the ground in front of them. A smoldering crater was left as their horses all reared up and threw their riders of before running away. Their instincts driving them to escape the predators in the sky at all costs. The men rose to their feet and began drawing the weapons. There were about 35 of them now who could still fight.

As they scanned the skies they finally saw the black dots zooming over them before circling around. It was them alright. It was the Black Riders. The giant who rode the Blue Flash and the Black Armored samurai who rode the Crimson Bolt. They were legends in Japan. The slayers of the Eight Headed Serpent. The first of the Benten and demons to bandits.

As they riders circles around to make another pass at them an arrow suddenly pierced one of the remaining men in the shoulder. He fell to the ground in pain as he clutched his bleeding shoulder in agony. Then another arrow hit another man in the chest. Then another in the neck. Then another in the eye. The men started to run and zigzag about as the arrows kept coming and hitting with deadly accuracy. Their own archers attempted to return fire but the dragons moved too quickly and were too maneuverable.

The bandits could only run about helplessly as they were being picked off. Eventually only twenty of them remained when the onslaught of arrows finally stopped. They watched as both riders dived toward the ground before pulling up at the last second and start flying toward them at blinding speeds.

The men held their weapons at the ready as they prepared to engage the demons.


Ryuiji and Kyoshi smiled to themselves as they sped towards the bandits on their companions. Their plan had worked perfectly. They managed to reduce their numbers to half just by using fire and arrows. Ryuiji had become an amazing marksman during his samurai training. And on dragon back he was a deadly opponent to have aiming at you. Beside him and Toothless, Kyoshi was holding his own bow and smiling proudly. Both men put away their bows and extended their closed fist out towards each other.

Bumping fists in victory they were preparing to pull off their favorite maneuver. As they got closer to the bandits Hiccup locked open the tailfin and slipped his feet out of the stirrups. Then he crouched low on Toothless' back and waited. Kyoshi slipped his feet out of his saddles stirrups as well and crouched low on Amakage's back. Picking out a bandit and waiting both men leapt from the saddle and at the bandits.

The bandits remained frozen in shock as the riders leapt off their dragons and straight at them. Two of them quickly realized they should have moved when they got drop kicked from the sky.

Kyoshi drop kicked a bandit in the face and sent him toppling over. Rolling over with him he quickly got to his feet and drew his Katana at his left side. In a quick motion he slashed it across the torso of a man at his left. Then taking the hilt of his sword in both hands he slashed the man across his chest in the other direction. The man cried out in pain when Kyoshi kicked him in the chest hard with enough force to send him reeling back and off his feet.

A cry from behind him alerted him to a charging bandit and he turned around with his sword at the ready in enough time to parry a slash. Parrying the slash from the man's sword he spun passed him and slashed him across the neck. The man dropped his weapon and he collapsed in shock.

Then suddenly two men charged Kyoshi from his left and right. Gripping the hilt of his Katana firmly in his right hand he took his left hand off the hilt and quickly drew the Wakizashi still at his hip. Pulling it from its sheath he blocked a slash from the bandit coming at him from his left with one arm. The bandit's eyes widened at the boys impressive strength. Then he gasped when he saw the blade of the Wakizashi was completely made of some kind of black metal. Kyoshi slashed hit Katana at the man approaching him from the right, cutting him across the face and making him reel away in pain as he bought his hand up to his leaking scar. Then he pushed the sword of the man to his left away before bringing his Katana around and stabbing him in the stomach. The man gasped in shock and coughed up blood before Kyoshi pulled out his sword and shook the blood off of it.

Then he held his sword at the ready as he waited for his next opponent.

Meanwhile, Ryuiji was engaging the bandits as well. Immediately after drop-kicking his bandit and sending him toppling over he leapt to his feet in time to face a charging bandit with a knife. The bandit charged at him with a battle cry with a dagger poised above his head in his right hand. As he was bringing it down to kill the Ryuiji he immediately brought up his left hand and caught him by the wrist. Before the bandit could overcome his surprise and pull his arm free he gave it a hard twist, making the bandit cry out in pain and drop his weapon. Then he immediately brought his right hand to the man's neck in a powerful karate chop. The man's knees turned to jelly as he collapsed from being struck in the vulnerable area.

Ryuiji stepped away from the man and turned around to face another bandit. The bandit was armed was armed with a Katana and was intent on cleaving Ryuiji in two. Ryuiji calmly clapped both his hand together as the blade was inches from his face and halted the man's attack. Holding it firmly in a vice like grip the bandit couldn't pull it free, allowing Ryuiji to kick the man in the stomach. The man stumbled back and lost his grip on his sword as he clutched his stomach and gasped for air. Ryuiji threw down the sword and advanced on the man. He kicked the man across the face with right leg and then struck him from the other side with his heel. Then he planted his right leg down and spun on his toes as he struck out with his left leg. He drove his boot into the man's chest and sent him flying.

Getting back into a battle stance he looked around for his next opponent. This time it came in the form of three bandits, all armed with Katanas. They smirked evilly as they figured they had the advantage over Ryuiji. They couldn't make out a weapon on him at all.

Since only samurai were allowed to carry Katana Ryuiji didn't have one himself. All he had was a Tanto at his waist behind him and his other melee weapon. Slowly Ryuiji reached into a pocket on the inside of his vest and pulled it out.

The bandits tensed as they saw him reach for something in his vest. They figured it must have been a knife. They were shocked and then confused when he pulled out a short black rod. It didn't look like a weapon and it was only a few inches long. They sneered at him and thought they could easily finish him.

*"What are you gonna do boy? Poke us with your stick?"* One of them asked with a dark laugh.

Ryuiji only smirked back. *"No, I'm gonna beat you with my staff,"* he said firmly.

They narrowed their eyes at him. Staff? That stick? He was obviously bluffing. *"Bullshit,"* one of them said calling him out on his bluff.

Ryuiji only continued to smile before he pressed the button on the center of the rod. Immediately the rod extended to a nearly seven foot metal staff. The bandits'' eyes widened as they gasped in surprise. *"No shit,"* he said before pointing one end of the staff at them and inviting a challenge.

As Ryuiji and Kyoshi were engaging the bandits in hand to hand, others in the group had stepped back to try and take them out with a well-placed arrow. As one archer level his bow and prepared to shoot Kyoshi a rush of wings followed by a flash of crimson stopped him. Amakage and Toothless were circling in the air around the battle and watching for any archers who might try to kill their riders from a distance. Amakage had picked out the bandit aiming for his human and immediately fired at him. His fired struck the ground in front of the bandit and exploded, sending the man flying backward. Amakage gave a draconic cheer as he continued watching any bandit who had stepped away from the battle.

As another bandit was preparing to shoot Ryuiji, Toothless swooped down a grabbed him by the shoulders before lifting him into the air. The bandit cried out in terror as he watched the ground get farther away. Toothless only laughed before dropping the man on one of his comrades that Kyoshi had been fighting. Amakage roared in appreciation at the assistance for his rider and Toothless roared back.

Ryuiji raised his staff and held it horizontally above him as the three bandits all attempted a downward slash on him. He was only pushed back slightly by their combined strengths and his knees bent slightly under the pressure. As the men attempted to overpower him he struck out with his right leg and kicked the center bandits in the stomach. The man stepped back as he tried to get some air back into him. Then Ryuiji jumped quickly, causing the bandits to stumble as they were no longer pressing down on him. Ryuiji then swung his staff to the right, hitting one bandit squarely on his temple and knocking him out. Then he jabbed the other bandit at his left in the foot. The man cried out I pain and Ryuiji took the opportunity to place the staff between his legs, shift both his feet apart causing him to nearly fall over and then smacking him hard across the face from the left. The man went down.

Ryuiji heard a shout from behind him and took his left hand off his staff. Reaching behind him he drew his Tanto and whirled around and stabbed an approaching bandit in the neck. Then he dragged the knife across the man's throat before delivering a powerful kick to the man's chest. Ryuiji put away his Tanto as he scanned around for more opponents and found five bandits trying to enclose him. Ryuiji backed away from them as he watched them warily. He backed away until he bumped into someone. Glancing over his shoulder he saw that he had bumped into Kyoshi. In front of his friend were four bandits, armed and ready. Standing back to back they prepared to finish the battle.

One bandit in front of Ryuiji charged him. Ryuiji simply jabbed the man in the gut. Deciding to rush the pair, the three bandits on Ryuiji's side charged while another three on Kyoshi's side charged as well. As if reading each other's mind Kyoshi ducked while Ryuiji grabbed on end of his staff with both hands and spun in a full circle. He smacked the bandits across their faces as he spun. Most of the bandits were dazed by the staff and Kyoshi and Ryuiji capitalized on it. Kyoshi took a step forward and slashed at the men while Ryuiji swung his staff. They took out all six of them and turned to face each other with a proud smile, then they each saw the bandits charging at them from over their shoulders.

*"Behind you,"* they both called out in unison. Taking a step forward they grabbed each other with their left hands and pulled each other forward, lashing out with a powerful kick at the approaching bandits ad knocking them out. Then with a spin, Ryuiji stepped around Kyoshi and knocked out the last bandit. Both men stood at the ready for more. But glancing around, they saw that all the bandits had been taken out. Kyoshi lowered and sheathed his swords while Ryuiji collapsed and pocketed his staff.

Then both men began to walk around and take in the bandits' condition. Most were dead. But a little under half of them were still alive since Ryuiji used his staff. The living would be tied up and left for the samurai of the Western province to deal with.

A war cry suddenly alerted Ryuiji to a bandit that had regained consciousness. Glancing to his left he was being charged by a bandit with a Katana.

"Ryuiji!" Kyoshi called out a few feet to his right. Ryuiji turned to look at his friend as Kyoshi drew his Katana and tossed it to him. Ryuiji caught it by the hilt and raised it in time to block the man's sword.

The man growled at Ryuiji in anger but Ryuiji remained silent and kept his expression neutral. With a grunt of exertion he pushed the man back and gripped his sword firmly in both hands as he assumed a battle stance. He pointed the weapon at the man and said, "Koi." Bring it.

The man snarled and swung at Ryuiji wildly. Ryuiji saw through the man's attacks and easily blocked, dodged, and parried his slashes. Ryuiji was a skilled swordsman. He was one of the few able to match Kyoshi in a sword duel after their years of sparring together. As the man swung at him from his left, he blocked the blow with his sword. When the swords clanged together Ryuiji pressed down on the man's sword before sliding his blade along the man's and toward his face. The man was barely able to jerk away in time to avoid being slashed across the face. He leapt back with a growl and glared at Ryuiji. Ryuiji only smiled ad gestured at him to attack. It was time to end this.

With a cry the man charged. Ryuiji also charged with his sword in his right hand and at the ready. As the man got closer and prepared to lash out he was suddenly blinded as blood coming from above his eyes obscured his vision. Unbeknownst to him, Ryuiji had made a small cut above his eye in their last exchange and it had just started to bleed. With a wild swing he attempted to strike Ryuiji but he only ducked and slashed the man along the side as he rushed passed him.

Ryuiji stood up, tall and proud as he knew he had won and turned to toss Kyoshi his sword back. The bandit finally collapsed after a few moments of shock and bled out. A roar above them caused the young men to look up and see their dragons spiral down to land. Both landed near their riders and sniffed for injuries. The young men assured their dragons that they were fine before bumping fists in victory.

In their own gesture of celebration the dragon shot their fires into the sky, making them collide in a brilliant purple flash followed by a roar in victory.

"Chalk up another win for the Black Riders," Ryuiji said proudly.

"Indeed. Mission accomplished," Kyoshi said with a smile.

Together they tied up the remaining live bandits and waited for the province's samurai to arrive before turning the bandit over to them. Then they both mounted their dragons before flying back to the palace.

"So what do you wanna do now?" Ryuiji called out to his friend.

"I don't know," Kyoshi replied. "We could eat," he suggested.

"Sounds good, I'm starving," Ryuiji called back.

The pair chuckled as they looked forward to a meal waiting for them at the palace. They both took satisfaction that they had both made the kingdom just a little bit safer due to their efforts and bravery. As long as the Black Riders patrolled the skies, bandits wouldn't be allowed to do as they pleased.

That anyone could be sure of.


Scond chapter hope ya like. Feel free to review and comment. Evrything helps